This was a speech for the country in an attempt to show Osborne as a serious, plain-speaking politician who will not be afraid to take the difficult decisions.
He partly answered d’Ancona point, discussed below, but only with reference to the bank bail-out. Osborne said nothing about the stimulus.
What will get the headlines will be the freeze on public sector pay for those earning more than £18,000 and the proposals for pensions. Expect Labour to attack these two policies relentlessly. For the Tories it is vital that the proposals do not unravel and, more importantly, do not frighten the horses.
The “smile, nod, wave and say very little” brigade has not won the day but neither has the “set out in detail” pressure group. What we got was a halfway house.
Yes, the Tories have taken an electoral gamble, but the acid test is how well the medicine goes down with the voters Only then we will be able to say if the speech was politically well judged.
At the end of the day we have to wait for those all important post-conference polls.
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